I hope everyone enjoyed their St. Patricks Day. I made some really yummy dishes. Two of them are certainly blog-worthy. This is the dessert I served and if you love the flavor of coffee you can enjoy this cupcake year round. The only thing I did differently was I added some homemade chocolate buttercream around the top of the cupcake and put the whipped cream topping in the middle. I thought the chocolate addition would be a tasty added treat.

Topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

In a small saucepan, stir together the granulated sugar and ½ cup water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Boil for 1 minute. Take off the heat and whisk in 1 tablespoon of instant espresso powder. Stir in the whiskey and let cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium high speed until fluffy, 2 – 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time mixing well and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add half the flour mixture, then the half and half and finally the rest of the flour mixture. Blend until almost all the flour is mixed in. Add the vanilla and mix. With a large spatula, finish mixing the batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and then spoon coffee whiskey mixture over cupcakes. Let cool completely for 30 minutes and then whip cream with 2 tsp of sugar to swirl on top.

Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer. Sift 3 cups powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.

I found this recipe courtesy of Gluten Free Girl. There was a note on the recipe that these will remind you of the little shortcakes they sell in the grocery store that are wrapped in the cellophane wrappers and this is so true! I was amazed at the texture and flavor that came from these little shortcakes. They are delicious and easy to make so no excuses not to try them this summer!

Ingredients:

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened

1 c confectioners sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 c cornstarch

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

2 c sliced strawberries

1/2 c raspberries

1 T granulated sugar

1 c heavy whipping cream

3 T confectioners sugar

Grease 12 muffin tins with shortening or cooking spray. Preheat oven to 375F. Cream butter and 1 c of confectioners sugar using an electric mixer. Add eggs and vanilla and then beat until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl combine your cornstarch and baking powder and then slowly add to butter mixture, Mix until everything is well blended scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. Fill your muffin tins halfway and then bake for 15 minutes (toothpick should come out clean when they are ready). Remove from the pan while they are still warm . Combine half the strawberries and raspberries in a bowl and mash them slightly. Add the remaining berries and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Whip the whipping cream and 3T of confectioners sugar until stiff peaks form. Slice your shortcake in half and top with berries and whipped cream.

I was in a total German mood this weekend so I surprised my family with an authentic German meal. They dined on Jagerschnitzel, gluten-free spaetzle and German red cabbage. These were foods that brought back great Bavarian memories for me having spent three years living in Germany. I still remember the cuckoo clocks, the brochen and the chocolate. Did I mention the chocolate? I decided I had to finish this meal off with a Black Forest Cake and let me tell you this cake was so yummy. Your guests will be saying “Dein Kuchen schmeckt gut” translation “Your cake is delicious.”

Ingredients:

2 1/8 c gluten-free flour mixture (I used Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose)

2 c granulated sugar

3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 tsp xanthan gum

3 large eggs

1 c milk

2/3 mayonnaise

1/2 c canola oil

1 T gluten-free vanilla

2 cans gluten-free cherry pie filling

3 1/2 c heavy whipping cream

1/2 c confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour two 9″ cake pans. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum in a medium bowl and set aside. Measure out milk and add vanilla to measuring cup. Cream eggs, sugar, oil, mayo and cocoa powder over low speed. Once mixed beat on medium until well blended. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture 1/3 at a time alternating with milk and vanilla. Whip for 5 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then remove from pans and cool completely. Split each cake horizontally in half and tear one split layer into crumbs and set aside. Combine whipping cream and confectioners sugar in a chilled mixing bowl. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. Place one cake layer on cake plate and spread on whipped cream frosting. Top with cherry topping then second cake layer. Repeat with whipped cream and cherries. Top with third cake layer and frost sides of cake. Pat reserved cake crumbs or pieces on sides of cake. Spoon remaining frosting in pastry bag fitted with star tip. Pipe decorations on top of cake and spoon some cherry topping in middle of cake top. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Check out my Jagerschnitzel recipe here on Glutenvygirl.

I decided to make a quick gluten-free apple crisp dessert this weekend and it was super yummy. I made a homemade caramel sauce to drizzle over the top. Okay, who am I kidding? I poured a bunch over the top, but you could also serve this topped with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:

8 granny smith apples peeled, cored and sliced into 1″ pieces

3/4 c gluten-free all purpose flour blend (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

3/4 c granluated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

1 stick of butter cold, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 375F. Place apples in individual ramekins or a glass baking dish. In medium bowl combine flour blend, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add butter pieces to flour mixture and mix with pastry until mixture resembles small peas. Cover apples with topping and bake 25-30 minutes for small ramekins or 1 hour if using a large baking dish.

I watched an episode of 5 Ingredient Fix recently and saw Claire Robinson make this easy chocolate dessert topped with a cherry whipped cream. I had to try it for myself and it was fabulous! If you don’t like the taste of dark chocolate try making this with milk chocolate instead.

Preheat oven to 350F and bring 6c of water to a boil on the stove. Put the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. In a medium saucepan over medium low heat bring 1 1/2 c heavy cream and sugar to a low simmer making sure sugar has dissolved. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and whisk until all the chocolate has melted and it is smooth. Add a small amount of the hot chocolate mixture to your egg yolk bowl and whisk to temper them. Transfer the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisk to thorughly combine. Transfer the mixture to a liquid measuring cup and pour into 4 small ramekins filling evenly.

Put ramekins in a high sided baking pan and fill the pan with hot water halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake about 301 minutes. The custard should be slightly jiggly when you remove it from the oven. Cool the custards to room temperature and then refrigerate them for 2 hours or overnight.

Whip the remaining 1/2 c heavy cream with 1tsp of sugar until stiff peaks form. Whisk the cherry jam until loosened adding 1-2 T of water to thin it out. Fold the jam into the whipped cream and top the custards.